Sabyn Javeri in conversation with the North Modern and Contemporary Network

Sabyn Javeri in conversation with the North Modern and Contemporary Network

In this session, Sabyn Javeri, author and academic, will engage in a conversation at the intersection of creative writing, feminist theory, and the personal challenges of writing. Drawing from her diverse body of work, including novels, short stories, creative non-fiction, translations, and creative research, Javeri will explore how her writing process reflects themes of migration, identity, and the evolving narratives of women in contemporary literature. She will reflect on her journey as a writer navigating both creative and academic spaces, particularly focusing on how she confronts inherited cultural narratives and reclaims them through storytelling. Javeri will also discuss the power of language as a tool for resistance, especially through her exploration of translingualism and feminist themes.
The second half of the event will feature a workshop focused on writing prompts and discussions, designed to spark creativity and offer strategies for overcoming common writing challenges. We will explore the development of a sustainable writing practice, with a special focus on navigating the highs and lows of both creative and academic writing. Participants will have the opportunity to share their writing journeys, discuss the challenges they face, and engage in meaningful conversations about building a lasting writing practice.

Sabyn’s webpage: https://sabynjaveri.com/

Sabyn Javeri is the author of the short story collection Hijabistan (Harper Collins: 2019) and the novel Nobody Killed Her (Harper Collins: 2017). She has also edited two multilingual anthologies titled Arzu Anthology of Student Writing and a pioneering anthology of creative nonfiction by Pakistani women writers titled Ways of Being (Women Unlimited, 2023). Her fiction has been published in the London Magazine, Litro, Bookends Review, Wasafiri, Oxonian Review, Trespass, Hayden's Ferry Review, Poetry Daily, among other publications, and her non-fiction has appeared in the Journal of Commonwealth Literature, South Asian Review, Journal of South Asian Studies, 3Q Daily, among others. Her short story, ‘The Letter’, won the Oxonian Review Award, her translation of Khalida Hussein's short story, ‘A Busy Woman’, won the runner-up Jawad Memorial Translation Prize, and her novel-in-progress was shortlisted for the Tibor Jones Award. She is an IWP fellow and teaches writing and global women’s literature at New York University, Abu Dhabi, and is also currently tutoring on the University of Oxford’s Masters in Creative Writing program.

This event is generously co-funded by Northern Bridge Collaborative Doctoral Training Programme's Cohort Development Fund and Northumbria University's Modern and Contemporary Writings Research Group.